The information is published annually and the data for 2014 have just been published.

So, has the decline of the previous 17 years been halted?

I've updated my charts to include the new data from 2014.

The complete data for these charts are (all these figures can be verified from the original HSCIC data):

Year

Prescription

Items

Net Ingredient

Cost

Cost/item

1995

164,207

£816,798

£4.97

1996

172,013

£914,983

£5.32

1997

162,421

£937,311

£5.77

1998

157,063

£927,633

£5.91

1999

147,769

£888,274

£6.01

2000

134,164

£831,130

£6.19

2001

127,333

£807,125

£6.34

2002

117,989

£778,749

£6.60

2003

103,940

£714,938

£6.88

2004

94,501

£661,469

£7.00

2005

82,960

£593,316

£7.15

2006

62,679

£442,769

£7.06

2007

49,316

£321,418

£6.52

2008

26,337

£152,300

£5.78

2009

19,005

£100,486

£5.29

2010

16,359

£121,449

£7.42

2011

15,501

£130,601

£8.43

2012

15,262

£143,068

£9.37

2013

13,001

£137,298

£10.56

2014

10,238

£110,438

£10.79

So, what does this show?

In 2014, the number of prescriptions for homeopathy fell for the eighteenth consecutive year, this time by over 21% — the fourth largest percentage fall since 1995 — continuing the downward spiral.

The number of prescriptions are now just 6% of what they were at their peak in 1996 — a fall of over 94%.

The total cost of these prescriptions also fell by 20% to a new low.

The cost per prescription has risen again, this time by 2%, compared to an increase of 13% in 2012/2013.

It's clear that doctors are writing fewer homeopathy prescriptions, but because these figures are for England only, the decisions by NHS Tayside and NHS Lothian in the past few years (and the recent decision by NHS Lanarkshire) to cease funding homeopathy referrals cannot explain this continued decline.

At the start of World Homeopathy Awareness Week, perhaps doctors are now more aware than ever that prescribing 'medicines' for which there is no good evidence can no longer be justified either on medical1 or ethical2 grounds.